The Hunter-Douglas Silhouette is now available in top down/bottom up. The window casing you have is deep and the shades could be inside mount and look good. Silhouettes have very big headers. http://www.hunterdouglas.com/our-products-detail.jsp?id=1 I would go with a color drape the same tone as the walls but darker. The walls look rather blueish in the photo - maybe due to not using a flash? Some heavy, polyester silk-look would make the area elegant. These come in various colors. http://www.touchofclass.com/product/r114-001.do?code=CMZ08 Here is a link that might be useful: Silhouette

Every house plan results in compromises. Only Escher can create a perfect plan without them but few builders are willing to attempt building his designs. :-) For me it's difficult to comment on your living room without seeing your plan. I'm a fan of traditional interiors vs open so I think that's a good move on your part. Fenestration will be important though. I also think that in most cases a bit of separation between the house and garage is very beneficial from an aesthetic standpoint as well as providing more window options. I have a strong preference for windows on at least two sides of each room, lots of windows on the south, limited on the west and extremely few on the north. Our new house (http://bamasotan.us) is limited on the north but has gobs on the west (somewhat protected by a porch and balcony) and not nearly as many as I'd like on the south. The first blog photo with the four windows and furnace is our family room so the four windows look west and the window on the far right is south facing. This is the mostly the total of all windows in our family room (there are actually five west facing windows but one is cut off in the photo). I'd like to have had more south facing but that wall also has a fireplace and a TV next to the fireplace as well as a conservatory on the outside that makes a window difficult. Our lot is on the east side of a lake so west facing windows for lake views was kind of important. Other elements (fireplace & chimney, TV placement in family room, bed in master, master closet placement) limited south facing windows. Our kitchen is in the middle of the west side so has lots of west facing windows but is limited otherwise. It does have one north facing window but that is to a porch and a porch wall so limited light but better than nothing. From within the kitchen you can see through a hallway and the scullery to a small north facing window but otherwise it's just the west windows.

You will need to get quotes in your area as to cost. But I like windows on 2 walls in bedrooms if possible I t also would be great to know where you plan to put your bed. From what I see I would do 2 windows on the N side with the bed in between and then the E window centered on that wall and maybe made as a trnasom height to ge tthe light without interfering with furniture lay out , Install tat window so it can be opened to gat a nice cross breeze and install motorized blinds if you want blackout .That would also give you light and privacy .

I would do the recess in the ceiling and the backs of the cabinets in same metallic finish as the large art piece. Upholstery is where I go to determine paint colors; you have some options there that might be better than black. I think the issue with the present draperies is the volume and the floor dragging. That is a bit too opulent a look, and is better suited to a high end, very large space, if at all. You can remedy that with the new panels. You might also recycle the current drapes into pillows, new chair seat upholstery, or in a glam master bedroom.